Uttar Pradesh govt to release rules for resuming film shoots 'very soon'

Lucknow, Sep 22: Uttar Pradesh government is going to issue "very soon" a set of guidelines that filmmakers wishing to resume work in the state would have to adhere to. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government is in talks with prominent filmmakers.

Several films, including big budget productions, had come to an standstill due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and are waiting for the government's approval to resume shooting.

"Very soon," said sources in the chief minister's office (CMO) on the issue of commencement of shooting.

In August, the Centre had issued guidelines, allowing film shooting to resume with some preconditions which include most crew members, other than actors emoting in front of the camera, wearing kits to protect themselves. Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council (UPFDC) chief Raju Srivastava had in written to the government to allow shooting to resume and sought guidelines for the same.

However, it is not clear as to why there has been a delay in formulating and releasing guidelines for film shooting, but it is expected that they can now be released any moment.

The officials said that the government is in contact with several filmmakers like Subhash Ghai, David Dhawan and Boney Kapoor, whose suggestions it plans to incorporate in the revised film policy that is in the works.

It is learnt that chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who met filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar in Lucknow on Sunday, will be meeting several top filmmakers to give a boost to his plans to develop the country's biggest film city in Uttar Pradesh.